Saudi national undergoes rare keyhole heart surgery at city hospital

The cardiology team at Frontier Lifeline Hospital recently performed a rare keyhole procedure to replace the aortic valve in a patient from Saudi Arabia who had previously undergone aortic valve surgery.

While keyhole surgeries are not uncommon, this case was exceptionally rare due to the presence of both an existing valve and an artificial aorta from a Homo-BENTALL surgery in 2010, the hospital said in a press release. The surgery also incorporated cerebral protection to prevent strokes, a precaution often taken for patients with previously degenerated valves, the release added.

Typically, the transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is performed for narrow valves, but in this patient, the valve was severely leaking. As per the hospital, the patient was discharged within two days and even resumed light exercise on a treadmill the following day. Ajeet Arulkumar, senior cardiologist, said: “TAVR is the preferred procedure for elderly patients with aortic stenosis as open-heart surgery is too risky for them.”